The Hon’ble Madras High Court in M/s. Bhima Enterprises v. The Principal Chief Commissioner of GST & Central Excise & Ors. [W.P.(MD) No. 9040 of 2024 dated August 05, 2026] held that the search conducted on the strength of an authorisation in Form GST INS-01 issued without a Document Identification Number (“DIN”) was “not above board” and that the sum of Rs. 32,62,640/- collected during the course of the search was not a voluntary payment under Section 74(5) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (“the CGST Act”).
The Court laid down that the power to inspect is distinct from the power to search and seize and the authorisation must specifically bear out the nature of the power conferred, that a DIN subsequently generated within the prescribed period of 15 days must necessarily be communicated to the noticee, and that any payment made during search must be preceded by a written self-ascertainment of liability in the assessee’s own words and acknowledged in Form GST DRC-04, failing which it cannot be regarded as voluntary. However, since the Assessee had earlier obtained release of the seized goods by pleading that the tax stood paid, the Court refrained from quashing the authorisation and instead directed fresh assessment proceedings, with the question of refund to abide by the outcome thereof.
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